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Herbal Medicine
ANTIOXIDANTS & FREE RADICALS
Oxygen is essential to life, since humans need to breathe air containing oxygen in order to sustain life. Yet oxygen is very active and combines readily with many compounds in our body. Some of these compounds can cause damage. During cellular respiration, some oxygen molecules are converted into oxidizing agents (also called "free radicals"), such as super oxides or hydrogen peroxide.
The Environment is a source of free radicals. Such oxidizing agents include: ionizing radiation (sun exposure, cosmic rays, medical X rays), ozone and nitrous oxide (primarily from automobile exhaust), heavy metals (such as mercury, cadmium, and lead), unsaturated fat (may create a strain on the natural antioxidants of the body), and other chemicals and compounds from food, water, and air. When these free radicals enter the body, they can react with healthy tissue, setting off potentially damaging reactions.
Free radicals interfere with the cell's ability to function normally. Fortunately there are many natural antioxidants that interfere with free radicals before they can damage the body. Antioxidants work in several ways: they may reduce the energy of the free radical, stop the free radical from forming in the first place, or interrupt an oxidizing chain reaction to minimize the damage of free radicals.
super oxides disputes (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase are enzymes produced by the body itself to defuse many types of free radicals. Supplements of these compounds are also available to augment the body's supply. However, these antioxidant enzymes may not absorb well. It may be more effective to take the "building blocks" the body requires to make SOD, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. These building block nutrients include the minerals manganese, zinc, copper, and selenium.
Vitamins & minerals for antioxidant: vitamin C, E, B3,B2, B6, beta carotene, lutein, lycopene, cysteine, and coenzyme Q10.
Herbs such as bilberry, turmeric, grape seed, pine bark extracts, and ginkgo biloba, can provide powerful antioxidant protection for the body.